AirSpaceMag.com

The X-3 Stiletto

In 1953 the Douglas Aircraft Company of Long Beach, California, produced a single copy of a needle-nose jet design, which pioneered the use of titanium for light weight and strength, and introduced new technology for aircraft tires. But the X-3 was underpowered with its Westinghouse J-34 engine, and the model never reached its planned speeds. During a test flight on October 27, 1954, pilot Joseph A. Walker performed two rudder-fixed aileron rolls at speeds of Mach .92 and 1.05, which led to a phenomenon called inertial coupling, where the heavy, high-density fuselage cannot be stabilized by the narrow wings and fuselage. Walker was able to recover control. Air Force testing lasted through 1956 at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) high-speed flight station, which was later known as the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center. In this silent, color footage, the X-3 instruments are calibrated during a preflight check, the aircraft takes off, lands with the aid of a parachute, and is trucked away across the California desert.
Video: NASA Dryden Flight Research Center (0:39)